Effect of Millimeter-Wave Irradiation on Growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Extremely high frequency electromagnetic fields at low power density do not affect the division of exponential phase Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells

“…A number of possible reasons for this difference are discussed below. (See also the discussion in the paper of Furia et al [1986], describing a study that failed to reproduce inde- (Table 3; power density 50 mW/cm 2 ). Plotted are the F values and colleagues [Grundler et al, 1977; for S-phase cells (open symbols) and G1-phase cells (solid sym- Keilmann, 1978].…”

“…ever, are less well established. An intense debate has Among the reports on nonthermal biological efarisen regarding whether the described biological ef-fects of EHF-EMF [Webb and Dodds, 1968; Parker et fects of electromagnetic fields in general, and of EHF-al., 1988;Verma and Dutta, 1993;Sarkar et al, 1994; EMF at low power densities in particular, are real or and see Furia et al, 1986, and Grundler et al, 1988, not [Bise, 1978Webb, 1979;Stone, 1992;Davis et for references], the work with the yeast S. cerevisiae al., 1993;Ahlbom and Feychting, 1993; Marani and stands out, because experimental details have been reFeirabend, 1993;Adey, 1993;Blank, 1993; Macklis, ported and continuity of the research is discernible 1993; Bassett, 1993;Ellingsrud and Johnsson, 1993]. The increasing use of electromagnetic fields in telecommunications and for other purposes affecting ev-*Correspondence to: W. [Grundler et al, 1977[Grundler et al, , 1988Keilmann, 1978, 1989;Grundler, 1989.…”

“…Frequencydependent changes in growth were reported, with enhancement up to 115% and inhibition down to 71% in the range from 41.6 GHz to 41.8 GHz [Grundler et al, 1977;Grundler and Keilmann, 1978]. An independent reproduction of this experiment was attempted but failed [Furia et al, 1986]. In a second, improved, experimental setup, cells were exposed to EHF-EMF on agar slabs [Grundler and Abmayr, 1983;Grundler et al, 1988;Grundler, 1989;Grundler and Keilmann, 1989].…”

Effect of Radio Frequency Energy on Biological Membranes and Microorganisms

“…Gründler and Keilmann (20) found very specific frequency dependent changes in growth rate of aqueous yeast cultures by microwave irradiation in the range 41-42 GHz. Contrary to these findings Furia et al (21) found that millimeter waves did not induce any detectable effects either on growth rate or viability of yeast cells. The above mentioned studies were carried out with frequencies around a factor 10 3 higher as applied the present study.…”

Frohlich's Coherent Excitations & The Cancer Problem—A Retrospecive Overview of His Guiding Philosophy1

“…Details of these experiments (and others) can be found in Fro¨hlich's review article of 1980 . 23 It should be noted that the failure of other attempts (e.g., Furia et al, 1986;Gos et al, 1997) to reproduce the effects found in yeast are most likely due to crucial differences in experimental protocol-such as irradiating at different stages in the cell cycle, differences in the way in which growth rate is measured, differences in cell density, differences in synchronization methods, etc.-which effectively undermine the fidelity of the purported replications. 24 The possibility (and indeed the necessity) of establishing ''purpose'' distinguishes biology from physics, where such enquiries are permissible only when dealing with machines (Fro¨hlich, 1983, p. 1;1986, p. 243).…”